A damaging cold front moved through Southeast Oregon into Southwest Idaho knocking down trees and power lines around the area.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS BOI wrote it up.
A damaging cold front moved through Southeast Oregon into Southwest Idaho knocking down trees and power lines around the area.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Boise, ID wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 20, 3:13 PM MST, 17 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOISE ID 313 PM MST THU NOV 20 2008 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY...STRONG COLD FRONT ALONG WESTERN IDAHO BOARDER LATE THIS AFTERNOON WILL SWEEP THROUGH IDAHO TONIGHT. WINDS WILL SHIFT SHARPLY TO THE WEST AND THEN NORTHWEST WHEN THE FRONT PASSES WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 30 MPH. RAIN SHOWERS ALONG THE FRONT IN OREGON WILL MOVE INTO IDAHO EARLY THIS EVENING FAVORING THE BOISE AND WEST CENTRAL MOUNTAINS. SNOW LEVELS WILL DROP FROM AROUND 7000 FEET BEFORE THE FRONT TO AROUND 4000 FEET SHORTLY AFTER THE FRONT PASSES. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES IN THE MOUNTAINS ABOVE 6000 FEET ARE LIKELY WITH A MIXTURE OF RAIN AND SNOW BETWEEN 4000 AND 6000 FEET. THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE FORECAST AREA IS LIKELY TO REMAIN DRY WITH ONLY A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AS THE FRONT PASSES. SKIES WILL CLEAR BEHIND THE FRONT ON FRIDAY AS COOLER AND CLEANER AIR MOVES INTO THE REGION. CLOUDS WILL INCREASE AGAIN ON SATURDAY AS ANOTHER UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE TROUGH MOVES ACROSS NORTHERN IDAHO AND BRINGS A CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION TO NORTHERN SECTIONS OF OUR FORECAST AREA. .LONG TERM...SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY...FAIRLY GOOD MODEL AGREEMENT ON LARGE SCALE SPLIT FLOW OVER THE WESTERN U.S DURING THE EXTENDED PERIOD. RESULT WILL BE LONGWAVE RIDGE IN THE NORTHERN STREAM OVER THE PAC NW AND TROUGH OVER THE SW U.S. WEAK SHORTWAVES IN THE NORTHERN STREAM WILL DAMPEN OUT AS THEY MOVE THROUGH THE RIDGE OFFERING ONLY SLIGHT CHANCE OF PRECIP OVER NORTHERN MOUNTAIN ZONES. WITH RIDGE IN PLACE INVERSION WILL CONTINUE... WITH COOL AIR POOLING IN THE VALLEYS AND MILD TEMPS AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS. && .AVIATION...STRONG COLD FRONT MOVING THROUGH SE OREGON AND SW IDAHO THIS AFTERNOON/EVENING WILL BRING WIND SHIFT WITH BRIEF GUSTY WEST WINDS. LOWER CEILINGS AND MVFR VISIBILITIES IN RAIN WILL ACCOMPANY FRONT AT LOWER ELEVATIONS WITH IFR CONDITIONS IN SNOW ABOVE 4-5K FEET MSL. FRONT MOVES INTO SW ID BY 00Z THIS EVENING AND REACHES THE MAGIC VALLEY AND CAMAS PRAIRIE BY 03Z. BEHIND THE FRONT VFR CONDITIONS FOR LATER TONIGHT AND FRIDAY WITH DIMINISHED WESTERLY WINDS. && .BOI WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ID...NONE. OR...NONE. && WEATHER.GOV/BOISE SHORT TERM...JB LONG TERM....DG/LH AVIATION.....DG
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOISE ID 451 AM MST THU NOV 20 2008 IDZ011>016-028>030-ORZ061>064-211200- WEST CENTRAL MOUNTAINS-LOWER TREASURE VALLEY ID-BOISE MOUNTAINS- UPPER TREASURE VALLEY-SOUTHWEST HIGHLANDS-WESTERN MAGIC VALLEY- CAMAS PRAIRIE-OWYHEE MOUNTAINS-SOUTHERN TWIN FALLS COUNTY- HARNEY COUNTY-BAKER COUNTY-MALHEUR COUNTY- LOWER TREASURE VALLEY OR- 451 AM MST THU NOV 20 2008 /351 AM PST THU NOV 20 2008/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL IDAHO...SOUTHWEST IDAHO...WEST CENTRAL IDAHO...NORTHEAST OREGON AND SOUTHEAST OREGON. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Local media reported trees down and power out in Idaho City, Placerville, Grimes Creek and Centerville.
A wind gust of 53 MPH was recorded at the National Weather Service office in Boise and local media and trained spotters reported trees down and power out in Boise, Mountain Home, Garden City and Kuna.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Idaho in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Idaho, November 2008
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 139641, 139640.